Shark fin anyone?

By Sophie Foster Hildebrand

HAVE you ever had shark fin soup?

It is a delicacy that is much sort after in Asian restaurants around the Pacific as a starter. But this popularity may be contributing to havoc in the western Pacific as entrepreneurs seek to meet the Asian demand for shark fin.

The issue has become such that Guam’s member in the US House of Repre sentatives, Robert Underwood - along with four other members - wrote a resolution to condemn and possibly outlaw “the wastefi.il and unsportsmanlike practice known as shark fining.”

As a result, the US Congress resolved that “the practice of removing the fins of a shark and dumping its carcass back into the ocean, commonly referred to as shark fining, is a wasteful and unsports manlike practice that could lead to over fishing of shark resources.”

It said that the Western Pacific Fish ery Management Council, the State of Hawaii, and the National Marine Fisheries Service should promptly and permanently end the practice of shark fining in all Feder al and State waters in the Central Pacific Ocean and -Western Pacific Ocean. But the issue may not die there.

The US Congress also resolved that the Secretary of State should continue to strongly advocate for the coordinated man agement of sharks and the eventual elimina

tion of shark fining in all other waters.

This is bound to have some effect on fisheries practice in other areas of the Pacif ic.

The problem with shark fining is that only the fins are of any real value on the market.

But because shark fins comprise only between one to five per cent of the weight of a shark, about 95 to 99 per cent (by weight) of the rest of the shark is thrown back into the ocean.

Underwood’s joint proposal said demand for shark fins was driving dramatic increases in shark fishing and mortality around the world.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, the number of sharks killed in Central Pacific Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean fisheries rose from 2,289 in 1991 to 60,857 in 1998, an increase of over 2,500 percent, and continues to rise unabat ed.

Of the 60,857 sharks landed in Cen tral Pacific Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean fisheries in 1998, 98.7 percent, or 60,085, were killed for their fins.

“The life history characteristics of sharks, including slow growth, late sexual maturity, and the production of few young, make them particularly vulnerable to over fishing and necessitate careful management of shark fisheries,” the Congressional pro posal said.

Underwood and company charged that shark fining was wasteful, should be stopped and was contrary to US fisheries conservation and management policies.

Although shark fining is prohibited in the United States exclusive economic zone of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean, it is permitted in Pacific waters managed by the federal government.

The proposal- cited several pieces of legislation that shark fining was inconsis tent with, including the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

It is hope that a prohibition on the practice of shark fining in the Central Pacific Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean will result in the immediate reduction of waste and reduce shark mortality by as much as 85 percent.

With its wide-reaching powers, it is not unrealistic to expect that the US will bring other island countries to task over the issue.

Especially since the argument that the practice is inconsistent with internation al obligations - including the UN Agree ment on Straddling Stocks and Highly Migratory Species - may hold water.

Perhaps this news will see a sudden influx of people to Asian restaurants hoping to savour shark fin before the law forces the menu to change. ■